Braking system



Feb. 28, 1928. Y

' r .,w. .l., ANDRES.'

BRAKING SYSTEM Filed Nov, l l?, 192,?

y. f IINIJEor-Lf WI'LLlAM J. ANDRES lBY M ATTORNEY Patented Febfzs,"iezs.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WLLIAM Josera Annales, or SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, AssIGNon To neNnIX BRAKECOMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

BRAKING SYSTEM.V

Application filed November 19, 1925.

This invention relates to brakes, and is illustrated as embodied in anautomobile chassis having brakes on all four Wheels. An object of theinvention is to provide a simplesystem of operating connections 1nsuringa direct pull on the brakeapplying device, by inclining the shalitjlo'rthe cam or its equivalent so that its axis 1s substan-I tiallyperpendicular to the line of pull. It used on front or other swivelledwheels, the connections may, it desir-ech, be arranged to relieve thepressure on the outerbrake, pret ably Without substantially increasingthe pressure on the inner brake.

The above and other objects and features of the invention, includingvarious novel combinations of parts and desirable particularconstructions, will be apparent from the following description of oneillustrative e1nbodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the chassis;

Fig is a vertical section through one front brake;

Fig. 3 .is a diagram, indicating the two front brakes in top plan, andillustrating the relietI in pressure on the outer brake Withoutsubstantially increasing the pressure on the inner brake;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of one of the novel brakes, with the drumremoved; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the brake on the line 5 5 of Fig.2.

The chassis villustrated includes a frame l0 supported by the usualsprings l2 on a rear axle let and front axle 16. The rear Wheels 18 havebrakes 20 operated by shafts 22 connected by rods or cables 24 to across shalt 26, Which in turn is connected by a brake rod 28 With `ashaft 30 operating the cables or equivalent tension members 3Q, for thebrakes for the t'ront Wheels 36. Shaft 30 is rocked to apply the fourbrakes by a pedal 38. Except as further described below, theabove-listed parts or .their equivalents niay be of any desiredconstruction.

Each of the 'liront brakes is shown as in cluding a drum 40 rotatingwith the Wheel 36, and a backing plate 4t2 carried by the knuckle del,which rotatably supports the Wheel and which is shown swivelled to theaxle by a king-pin 4:6. Between plate i2 and drum 40 is arranged thebrake, shown as a Bendix type threeshoe brake including a re- Seral No.69,948.

verse shoe anchored at 52, a central shoe 54. anchored at 56, and aservo shoe 58 connected to shoe 54 at 60. A spring (i2 urges shoes 50'and 58 away from the drum, and an auxiliary spring 64 holds shoe 541away from the drum until overcome by movement of shoe 551i'. Anchor 56for shoe 54 passes through a large clearance opening in shoe 50, andanchor lfor shoe 5() passes through a relatively large opening in shoe54.

According to one feature ot the invention, each tension member 32 is`connected to an arm (S6 swinging in a generally vertical plane inclinedWith respect to the Wheel. That is, as appears in ltig. l, members 32are in a vertical plane extending rearwardly from the brakes towardsha'ift 3U, and arms 66 are substantially in this plane, so'that thereis a straight pull on the arms. Each arm 66 is clamped on a shaft 68 fora cam 70, or

. other operating device, which shaft is in- .clined with respect to theplane of the wheel in such a manner that it is substantiallyperpendicular to the plane oi member and arm 66. 'lhis shaft, however,is substantially in a horizontal plane,-i. e., it is in a planeperpendicular to the plane of the Wheel but is not itseltl perpendicularto the plane of the Wheel.

Cam 70 is distorted with respect to the axis of shaft G8, the upper endbeing carried toward the top of the sheet in Fig. l, and the lower endcarried downwardly, so that the cam is not perpendicular to the axis ofshaft 68, as usual, but is inclined as appears in Fig. 2 so that itengages uni'tormiy the parallel inclined end surtt-aces of shoes 50 and58. lt will be noted that slices 50 and 5S are interchangeable byreversing` them about the vertical diameter of the drum (Fig. 5).

In applying the brake, the joint between arm 6G and the tension member32 may be swung 'from an idle position forwardly of the swivelling axis(i. e., the axis ot kingpin 46) rearwardly to an active positionsubstantially in that axis, thus permitting the Wheel to be swivellcdWhether or not the brakes are applied.

I prefer, however, that the active position of the joint be not exactlyin the swivelling axis, but slightly at one side oit that axis, and soarranged that when the wheels are Swivelled to round a corner thepressure on the outer brake is automatically relieved withing devicewhich is inclined, with respect to out any substantial increase ofpressure on the inner brake. As diagrammed 1n Fig. 3, the wheels areswu'n0r from straight ahead ositions ar-4 allel to lines WV passingthrough the swivelling a-xes A, in tuining a corner to the right,

to positions WL and WR respectively. J

indicates the active position of each joint between an arm, (56 and itsmember 32, and is shown as in front of the axis A and on the v oppositeside of that axis from the wheel.

When the wheels aie swivelled to the right, to new positions parallel tolVL and VR, joints J are also moved, the outer joint moving to JL andthe inner one to JR. 1t will be seen that the arc J-JL is nearly in thedirection of the tension on member 32, and consequently givesconsiderable relief on the outer brake. On the other hand J-JR is nearlyperpendicular to the direction of the tension on its member 32, andincreases the pressure on the inner brake very little,- much less thanthe pressure on the outer brake is relieved.

It will be seen that the illustrated positions of the joints is a highlyadvantageous compromise.. lf joints 'J were arranged so that members 32were tangent to the circles, the pressure on the'inner brake would beincreased exactly as much as the pressure on the outer brake wasrelieved, except in so far as in steering an automobile the inner wheelusually swivels a few degrees further than the outer wheel. On the otherhand, if

members 32 passed over the axes A diametrically vof the circles,swivelling the wheels in either direction would slightly relieve thepressure on both brakes. By selecting the points as described, aconsiderable relief is given the outer brake without an undesirabletightening of the inner brake.

While one illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described indetail, it is not my intentionto limit its scope to that particularembodiment, oi otherwise than by the terms of the appended claims.\

I claim:

1. A vehicle having wheels with brakes, and comprising, in combinationtherewith, brake-operating connections including tene sion membersdiverging toward the brakes from the vehicle, an operating deviceforeach brake, and a shaft for each operating device which is inclinedin a horizontal plane with respect to the brake and is substantiallyperpendicular to the Icorresponding tension member and which is rockedby tension on said member.

2. A vehicle having swivelled wheels with brakes, and comprising, incombination therewith, brake-operating connections including tensionmembers diverging toward the brakes from the vehicle, an operatingdevice for each brake, a shaft for each operattlie brake and issubstantially perpendicular to the corresponding tension member, and anarm on each shaft connected to the corresponding tension member by ajoint which is movable in applying the brake from a posi- 4. A brakecomprising, in combination, a

drum, reversibly interchangeable shoeswithin the drum having adjacentsubstantially parallel end surfaces inclined with'respect to the axis ofthe drum, a shaft between the ends of the shoes with its axissubstantially parallel to said ends, and a cam on the shaft for forcingsaid ends apart.

5. Operating means for a brake lfor a swivelled wheel comprising, incombination, a brake-applying arm swivelling with the wheel and swingingin a generally vertical plane, brake-operating connections including atension member, and a joint directly connecting the arm and said tensionmember and movable in applying the brake from an idle position spacedforwardly of the swivelling axis rearwardly toward that axis.

6. Operating means for a brake for a swivelled wheel comprising, incombination,

a brake-applying arm swive'lling with the wheel and swinging in agenerally vertical 7. Operating means for a brake for av-v is swivelledto place it on the outside of a.

turn.

8. Operating `means for a brake for a swivelled wheel comprising, incombination, a brake-applying arm swinging in a generally verticalplane, brake-operating connec tions including a tension member, and ajoint 4between thelarm and said tension member movable in applying thebrake from an Aidle position spaced forwardly of the swivelling axisrearwardly to an active position so arranged with respect to theswivelling axis that swivellingtlie wheel lto place it on the outside ofa turn swings said joint in the di'- rection of the tension on saidmember.

9. v.A vehicle having a vpair of v'vheelswith brakes, eacl1`swivellingaboutV a generally vertical axis and operating connectionsfor thebrakesincluding parts swivelling with the wheels and operating means connectedthe joints to theswivelling axes, so that 1 y from the swivelling axesof the wheels that lines from said axes to the' respective joints makeangles of approximately 1.15" with the y to saidy parts by joints spacedrespectively from the two swivelling axes, and so located that saidmeans acts-on said joints in directionsmakingacute angles with lines'from swivelling the wheels to round a corner automatically relieves thepressure on the outer brake Withoutr substantially increasing thepressure onthe inner brake.l

10.A A vehicle having a pair of swivelled i wheels with brakes, andmechanical force'- transmitting operating connections for the brakesincluding joints arranged to permit the swivelling of the wheels and sospaced directions of the forces exerted on the joints by saidconnections, so that swivelling the I wheels to round a cornerautomatically relieves'the pressure on one brake Without substantiallyincreasing the `pressure onv the other brake.

. 11. A. vehicle having a pair of swivelled wheels with brakes, andoperating means for applying the brakesl including brake-operat-V ingdevices and tension members connectedv by joints so located that linesfrom the joints to the-respective swvellingaxes make acute angles withsaid members, so that swivelling the'wheels to round acornerautomatically swingsthe outer joint in the direction f thel'tension on its member and at the Sametime swings the inner joint morenearly at right angles toits tension member so as not to vary in anysubstantial degreethe effective force 0n the inner brake. s

12. A- brake comprising,- in combination, shoes having substantiallyparallel end surfaces inclined with respect to the plane of WILLIAMJOSEPH ANDRES.

